Alice Ratterree | Children's Book Illustrator

Tag: daily practice

  • Using Life’s Inspiration for Your Art

    Using Life’s Inspiration for Your Art

    The idea of students walking to school probably brings into mind the old cliché stories of our grandparents – “When I was your age, I used to walk 5 miles to school in the snow!” (That gap between home and school proudly growing larger each time the tale is delivered) We may also regard walking to school as something archaic and “old fashioned” (imagine Laura and Mary Ingles trotting down a sun-dappled dirt path swinging books neatly buckled with a leather strap).

    I myself never walked to school. Carpooling in a large station wagon was how my friends and I got around. Then about ten years ago I moved to Greenville to a neighborhood with an elementary school nestled only two blocks away. On the first day of my son’s first grade year, we walked.

    We saw a bunny.

    We listened to birds.

    Watched the way the leaves changed color throughout the year.

    We talked to other kids, other parents.

    Strangers became friends.

    My children are older now, but I still see others buddying up and walking up that hill, their crowns sweetly tilted inward as they talk. I’m confident they will have much better stories to tell about walking to school when they are grandparents.

    Happy Earth Day.

    In this painting, I drew inspiration from this life memory….it starts with the sketchbook:

    1) Sketch
    Sketchbook page (Usually worked on in the carpool line of my daughter’s after-school program)
    Sketch #2
    The sketch is scanned and cropped, then levels intensified (in Photoshop) for better visibility when transferring. I then print this out.

    I use an Artograph Light Pad I bought from Michaels (if you pay attention to the coupon savings, you can get these for half the cost!) Place the printed copy of the sketch onto the light pad, and watercolor paper on top. Then trace for a fresh drawing. (Side note: I love listening to podcasts during this phase. One of my very favorites: 99% invisible from Radiotopia. If you haven’t heard of it, carve out 20 minutes today to start enjoying. Hours of discovery awaits you! You can also browse other amazing Radiotopia shows like Criminal, and The Truth)

    The art table at a glance…

    Process
    The process… *note: the watercolor paper washed in green was a first pass/practice on a monochrome surface (I usually keep test washes laying around and draw/paint on top of them for fun) I repeated the process with a clean piece of watercolor paper and added color (see final below)

    Then begins the really fun part: bringing it to life with more definition and color….

    "School Days" in honor of Earth Day 2021
    The final painting (version 2) 4/15/21

    For more peeks into process, visit these other posts: Steps… | Illustrating “The Princess and the Pea” using life reference process | Illustrating Mother Goose | How to illustrate a map in a hand drawn style | How to use collage for visual reference

  • The two faces of Fear in artmaking

    The two faces of Fear in artmaking

    A tip of the day from Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland:

    “Fears about artmaking fall into two families: fears about yourself, and fears about your reception by others. In a general way, fears about yourself prevent you from doing your best work, while fears about your reception by others prevent you from doing your own work.”

    After a little over a month of Petite Paintings I must step back and make sure I’m staying focused on what it is that I do – illustrate stories. While these little daily exercises have helped me get back into traditional material, free up a bit, and are a nice sense of accomplishment, they are not representing that priority. Completely valuable and of course they will continue as planned (365 days!), but I will no longer be posting these exercises on a daily basis. Monthly posts of P3 will occur around the 7-10 of each month (based on the date I started the project). Instead, daily and weekly blogging will focus on illustrating stories, thereby challenging myself further to remember that priority of daily practice in addition to P3. I say this after taking a hard look in the mirror and facing fear about myself and about my reception by others. Thank you, David and Ted.

    Take courage, illustrators, and stay tuned….

    image provided by Alice Ratterree

     

    Today's illustrator promo: Andrea Offermann
  • P3: Month 1 retrospection

    P3: Month 1 retrospection

    Accountability drives the commitment to blogging daily practice. With accountability, I’m driven to make sure the Petite Painting Project keeps moving forward. After all, it’s OUT THERE, not just in my own world….PUBLIC. So here’s the honest truth: I confess and accept that I am human, and P3 will fall by the wayside from time to time. I have to embrace and accept that as part of this process. This week was one of those times. Plenty of excuses and really, no excuses- just life with two small children, lack of drive and inspiration outside of getting my other commissions accomplished, whatever you want to call it. But I must say, that the week “off” was valuable. It gave me time to just think and look around me (and get over beating myself up a little bit for letting P3 take a back seat). I am beginning to feel energy breathing back into my creative core. So from now on, I won’t shy away from embracing a few days of repose and reflection at the end of each month. After each painting is completed, it gets taped up on my kitchen cabinet doors, so I really live with them. I think I’ll take them down, put them away and start new each month.

    I began on August 7, 2012. One month has passed and here’s the look back:

    Petite Painting Project, month 1

    I’m still searching for the link between these little projects and what it is that I do as an illustrator for children, but also remembering not to have anxiety about it. The answer will come over time. And this is about time and growth. These little paintings are simply a way for me to step outside my usual process and subject matter and look at the world around me. It’s a nice break from coming up with entirely imagined original illustrations. Miniature beauty and sweet compositions lie around me every day. I just have to open my mind to see them.

    A new month for Petite Paintings….

    P3 9/9/2012
    P3 9/10/2012
    P3 9/15/2012

     

    Today’s promo illustrator: Eliza Wheeler

     

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  • Patience with Foliage

    Patience with Foliage

    It is really hard to have patience when trying to capture foliage. There so much out there with such variety of distinct personalities that if that is the only subject you focused on, you would have enough work to tackle over the course of multiple lifetimes.

    I didn’t really have the patience this morning with it, but I showed up. Maybe I’ll try again tomorrow…

    P3 8/13/2012

     

    P3 8/14/2012

     

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